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Steve, this is a challenging question. I strive for it but don't see
myself as excellent. Children have to be taught empathy, most would
say. Here is a link on current thinking:<br>
<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.nwrel.org/scpd/sirs/7/cu13.html">http://www.nwrel.org/scpd/sirs/7/cu13.html</a><br>
<br>
Buddhism and Christianity both have much interest in empathy. The last
time I read through the New Testament, I was forceably struck by the
number of times Jesus is described as having "compassion" which is (1)
empathy - knowing how another feels, plus (2) a desire to alieviate
suffering.<br>
<br>
Buddhism has many exercises on empathy. Generally, the Buddhist
perspective is of a kind of detached empathy, where one feels
compassion as a spiritual exercise. For example:<br>
<font size="2">We have seen that Bodhisattva Kannon of the twenty-fifth
chapter, like Bodhisattva Yakuo in chapter twenty-three and Bodhisattva
Myo'on in chapter twenty-four, manifests himself in various forms in
order to save all living beings. In terms of our own practice, this
suggests the need for developing empathy, insight and responsiveness
with respect to others. By discerning the hopes and fears, the
sufferings and the dreams, of the people around us, we can best
encourage their faith in the Mystic Law. Unless we can discern what is
truly on another's mind, we will have no convincing encourage-men to
offer In this sense, the name "He Who Perceives the Sounds of the
World" does not simply mean to hear physical sounds, but to discern
human hearts. As mentioned earlier, this power of altruistic insight
and response derives from the Buddha nature awakened through our faith
in the Gohonzon.</font><br>
(<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://etherbods.com/sutra/summaries/ls2526.htm">http://etherbods.com/sutra/summaries/ls2526.htm</a>)<br>
So the Buddhist concept is that empathy is our way of communicating
compassion and salvation to all sentient beings.Only through empathy
can we teach. Empathy is awakened by faith in our teachers and through
specific meditational exercises.<br>
<br>
The Christian approach to empathy involves using Jesus as a model and
praying for understanding and compassion. That approach is less inward
than Buddhism; more outward. To the Buddhist, empathy is an experience,
to the Christian is it an act. The book of James is the guide, i.e.,
James 2:14-17: "What doth it profit, my brethern, though a man say he
hath faith, and have not works? Can faith save him? If a brother or
sister be naked, and destitute of daily food, and one of you say unto
them, Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled; notwithstanding ye give
them not those this which are needful to the body; what doth it profit?
Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone. (KJV) The
whole book is quite good with this kind of practical empathic religion.
We have empathy by compassionate prayer and by works (see Matthew 25:
31 ff.) <br>
<br>
The psychological approach is to demonstrate empathy in interviews by
statements about (1) cognitive content and (2) emotional state. If the
empathy is accurate one should see an increase in self-exploration and
self-disclosure in the client. Also, clients can be asked to rate the
empathy. I developed an empathy rating scale for my students to give to
clients. So empathy is empirically judged. Empathy develops through
supervision and consultation, where one is taught to listen with an
'understanding heart' and infer the emotional state through minimal
nonverbal cues as well as verbal content. <br>
<br>
Personally, I like to watch crowds of people and pretend each one is my
sibling, lost and temporarily forgotten. I practice feeling warmth
toward each one, and try to discern their emotional state by nonverbal
cues. This only works if you like your sibs. This sort of exercise (or
the Buddhist meditations) likely intensify the interconnections in the
left prefrontal lobe. There is abundant evidence now of
neoneurogenisis, or new nerve cell growth as the result of brain
exercises. <br>
<br>
I would think that David Smith in this group will have some intelligent
things to say about this; hope he jumps in. <br>
<br>
Lynn<br>
<br>
Steve Hovland wrote:<br>
<blockquote type="cite"
cite="mid01C5132E.B97B5C20.shovland@mindspring.com">
<pre wrap="">Do you know of any exercises for increasing
one's capacity for empathy?
Steve Hovland
<a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="http://www.stevehovland.net">www.stevehovland.net</a>
-----Original Message-----
From: Lynn D. Johnson, Ph.D. [<a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:SMTP:ljohnson@solution-consulting.com">SMTP:ljohnson@solution-consulting.com</a>]
Sent: Tuesday, February 15, 2005 6:50 AM
To: The new improved paleopsych list
Subject: Re: [Paleopsych] Positive emotions and perceptual accuracy
The limbic system plays a role in positive emotions, but they 'source'
from the left prefrontal lobe. Meditators show much higher left
prefrontal activity and test as happier. Activity in the right
hemisphere is associated with more worry and dread emotions.
Negative emotions are experienced in the limbic system, and during
fear/anger/despair the frontal lobes are 'off line' so to speak, on the
sidelines and consuming less oxygen.
Steve Hovland wrote:
</pre>
<blockquote type="cite">
<pre wrap="">Do most of the positive emotions arise from the limbic?
Steve Hovland
<a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="http://www.stevehovland.net">www.stevehovland.net</a>
-----Original Message-----
From: Lynn D. Johnson, Ph.D. [<a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:SMTP:ljohnson@solution-consulting.com">SMTP:ljohnson@solution-consulting.com</a>]
Sent: Monday, February 14, 2005 9:20 PM
To: The new improved paleopsych list
Subject: [Paleopsych] Positive emotions and perceptual accuracy
Disclosure: Johnson in press release is not related to me.
Lynn
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.umich.edu/news/index.html?Releases/2005/Feb05/r020105">http://www.umich.edu/news/index.html?Releases/2005/Feb05/r020105</a>
Feb. 1, 2005
Positive emotions slash bias, help people see big picture details
ANN ARBOR, Mich.--Positive emotions like joy and humor help people "get
the big picture," virtually eliminating the own-race bias that makes
many people think members of other races "all look alike," according to
new University of Michigan research.
"Negative emotions create a tunnel vision," said U-M psychology
researcher Kareem Johnson. "Negative emotions like fear or anger are
useful for short-term survival when there's an immediate danger like
being chased by a dangerous animal. Positive emotions like joy and
happiness are for long-term survival and promote big picture thinking,
make you more inclusive and notice more details, make you think in terms
of 'us' instead of 'them.'"
To simulate getting a quick glance of a stranger, scientists flashed
photos of individuals for about a half second, finding subjects
recognized members of their own race 75 percent of the time but only
recognized members of another race 65 percent of the time, Johnson said.
However, researchers found positive emotions boosted that recognition of
cross-race faces about 10 to 20 percent, eliminating the gap.
The findings will appear in an upcoming issue of the journal
Psychological Science.
Johnson, who is completing his PhD work in psychology, and Barbara
Fredrickson, a U-M psychology professor and director of the Positive
Emotion and Psychophysiology Laboratory, specialize in the power of
positive emotions.
Researchers asked a group of 89 students to watch a video either of a
comic to induce joy and laughter, a horror video to induce anxiety, or a
"neutral" video that would not effect emotions. They then looked at 28
yearbook style photos of college-aged people in random order for 500
milliseconds.
Subjects who watched the comedy tested for having much higher positive
emotions, while those who saw the horror video had far more "negative"
emotions. In a testing phase, more images flashed by and they were asked
to push buttons to indicate whether they'd seen the pictures earlier.
Those in a positive mood had a far greater ability to recognize members
of another race, while their ability to recognize members of their own
race stayed the same.
The researchers conclude that positive emotions bring with them a
"broadening effect" that helps people see a bigger, broader picture of
the world around them.
Positive Emotion and Psychophysiology Laboratory
<a class="moz-txt-link-rfc2396E" href="http://www.lsa.umich.edu/psych/peplab/"><http://www.lsa.umich.edu/psych/peplab/></a>
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<pre wrap=""><!---->
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